Just Between You and Me
by mayleebaby28
Summary: Little moments between Baby John and A-Rab taking place between scenes on the musical.
1. Chapter 1: Smoking

**An: This little moment takes place after Act 1 Scene 1. I decided to write what Baby John and A-Rab do when they're involved in the main plot. So anytime they aren't on stage in the actual play they are in my fanfiction/ imagination.**

"Jeez, your ear bleeds a lot." Baby John mumbled, looking over at Arab.  
"Yeah, Bernardo shoved a damn knife through it." A-Rab dabbed his left ear with a tissue one of the boys had in their pockets. He was dabbing it with his left hand while he held a cigarette in his right.  
"Well, you're not doing anything good for it. Hold still." Baby John dug through his pockets until he pulled out some medical gauze. After the last rumble when Action's arm was bleeding all over the place, Baby John started carrying around medical gauze and tape in one of his pockets. He gently wrapped the tape around his friend's ear.  
"Ow! What the hell are you doing?" A-Rab asked, flinching away from the younger boy beside him.  
"Making sure your ear doesn't get infected. Now hold still." Baby John mumbled. He wrapped up A-Rab's ear and tapped it as well, then he tucked the supplies back into his pocket.  
"Thanks." A-Rab mumbled, taking a long drag on his cigarette. "You ready for the dance tonight?" A-Rab asked.  
"Yeah." Baby John mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest. The alley way they were sitting in had a chilly breeze blowing through it.  
"Taking Minnie?"  
"Yeah." Baby John could feel his ears turning red. He always got embarrassed when talking about Minnie, even if he was just talking to A-Rab.  
"Stop looking like a tomato. It's not like I asked if you guys have done it yet." A-Rab rolled his eyes and took another drag on his cigarette. Baby John blushed a deeper red. A-Rab chuckled and elbowed the boy.  
"Are you taking Pauline?" Baby John tried to change the subject.  
"Yeah. That's why I'm smoking so much. I need to hold myself over because she hates it when I smoke." A-Rab said, lighting up another cigarette.  
"I've never smoked one before." Baby John mumbled, looking over at the glowing embers on the end of the small white cylinder. A-Rab passed it to the younger boy. Baby John took it and took a slow yet long drag on it. He took it from his mouth and immediately began to cough. A-Rab took the addiction between his pointer and middle finger on his right hand while patting Baby John on the back. He laughed as well at his friend.  
"That's terrible." Baby John choked out.  
"You get used to it." A-Rab shrugged as Baby John's coughing calmed down.  
"I feel like I just tried to cough up a lung." Baby John's coughing slowed to a stop. "How do you do that?" He asked in amazement as A-Rab took a long drag.  
"Simple, my friend." A-Rab slung his arm around Baby John's shoulders. "I Like it."


	2. Chapter 2: SuperMan

**AN: This takes place after scene four AKA the Dance scene but before Cool.**

"We're going to Doc's." A-Rab said as the four of them walked from the dance.  
"I figured. War council tonight?" Pauline asked, looking up at the tall boy.  
"Yeah." Baby John piped up. He and Minnie were walking beside the older couple down the sidewalk.  
"I guess that we'll see you there. Min and I are going to go get some money for a soda, then we've got to go meet Graz, Clarisse, and Vel." Pauline paused in front of her and Minnie's building.  
Baby John stood beside Minnie awkwardly as A-Rab and Pauline said goodbye, whispering and giggling and kissing.  
"I had a great time tonight, Baby John." Minnie offered up.  
"Yeah, me too." Baby John smiled softly, the tip of his ears turning slightly pink.  
"So, I'll see you at Doc's tonight?" She asked quietly.  
"Yeah, alright." Baby John muttered. He felt an elbow hit his back and he knew it had belonged to A-Rab. He twisted a little to look up at him. A-Rab nodded toward Minnie, making sure Pauline didn't see. "Oh, I'll get you a coke or something." He added.  
"Cool." Minnie smiled.  
"Come on, Min." Pauline said, gesturing for her friend to follow her.  
"Bye, Baby John." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran to catch up to Pauline. Baby John stood there, his face turning as red as a stop light.  
"Come on, lover boy. We've got to meet the boys." A-Rab said, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his white t-shirt beneath it.  
"Right." Baby John remembered his task at hand. He turned on his heal and followed his friend on the way back to Doc's. Their dress shirts were shoved into jacket pockets and ties were balled up for easy storage as well. The boys were almost at Doc's when A-Rab spoke again.  
"You've got to stop doing that." He said casually.  
"Doing what?" Baby John looked up, thinking A-Rab had meant staring at his shoes when he walked.  
"Turning red. It's girly. And embarrassing because I'm friends with you." A-Rab joked, elbowing Baby John in the arm.  
"I can't help it. When I think about Minnie," Baby John trailed off, feeling the tips of his ears warm up. He always thought it was lame that the first thing to turn red when he blushed wasn't his cheeks, but his ears.  
"Alright, stop babbling." A-Rab said, seeing Baby John's mouth trying to form words.  
"I don't get it. Super Man can talk to girls." Baby John said, pulling his comic out of one of his pockets.  
"But that's why he's Super Man." A-Rab said, shrugging.  
"He's Super Man because he's cool. He has super strength, he can fly, and all other kinds of cool powers." Baby John flipped through his comic book.  
"Maybe you should just stick to your comic books. You know more about them than you do about girls." A-Rab threw his arm around his friend's shoulders.  
"I know about Lois Lane." Baby John said, innocently looking up at A-Rab.  
"Ehh, you could do better." A-Rab smiled, letting the boy go as the wandered into Doc's.


	3. Chapter 3: Music

**AN: This takes place sometime after Cool but before Tonight and the rumble.**

"Ready for the rumble tonight?" A-Rab asked, taking a seat at Doc's.  
"Yeah, I guess." Baby John said, taking a sip of his coke.  
"You don't sound ready."  
"Well, I haven't fought in a rumble since the Emeralds. And if it weren't for Tony, I would've been beaten senseless." Baby John explained.  
"Don't worry about it." A-Rab shrugged it off.  
"But I do. The Sharks are tough. Bernardo could really tear me apart if I'm not careful." Baby John crossed his arms.  
"Johnny Boy, don't worry about it. I've got your back." A-Rab leaned back as far as his chair would go without it falling over, crossed his arms behind his head, and propped his feet up on the table.  
"Really?" Baby John asked, smiling.  
"Yeah, I won't let the Sharks hurt ya. I'll make sure you fight Chino. I'm sure you can take him." A-Rab puffed on his cigarette.  
"Thanks A-Rab."  
"No need to thank me. Just go throw something good on the jukebox." A-Rab waved the younger boy off and closed his eyes. He smiled as he heard the music he enjoyed flying through the room.  
"Hi A-Rab!" The voice of tomboy Anybodys suddenly filled his ears.  
"Ah!" He leaned back too far and fell with a thunk to the floor. When he looked up he saw he saw Anybobys smiling and laughing on his left. On his right, Baby John had his hands on his hips and was looking down at his friend, trying to hide his giggle. He offered a hand up out and A-Rab took it, letting Baby John help him up.  
"Thanks." He grumbled, brushing himself off and righting his chair.  
"Don't thank me. Just pay for the next song." Baby John smiled up at his friend as Anybodys laughter died away.


	4. Chapter 4: Running

**AN: This takes place after the rumble. It is the last time Baby John and A-Rab see each other before they meet up in Act two Scene two**

It had all turned horribly wrong. Absolutely, horribly wrong. A-Rab was fighting some of the Sharks when he heard the sirens. He couldn't worry about Riff and Tony right now. He shot a look at Baby John. He was just a kid. A-Rab had to get him out of there. He ran for him, pulling him along. He didn't know where the other Jets or Sharks went. All he knew was he was running as fast as his clumsy legs would carry him. He could still hear the sirens though, clear as day. He had to run faster. He couldn't get caught and neither could Baby John.  
"A-Rab!" Baby John yelled. A-Rab turned around and saw the boy had stopped a few feet behind.  
"We have to get out of here. Come on!" A-Rab ran back to him and tried to tug him along.  
"I can't, I can't." Baby John panted.  
"You haf'ta." A-Rab looked over his head to see if anyone was following them.  
"I can't run anymore." Baby John shook his head.  
"Hurry up and catch your breath, we've gotta move." A-Rab panted as well.  
"No. I can't. I just," Baby John ran his hand through his dark hair. He felt tears welling in his eyes. "Riff is- a-and Bernardo-" He blubbered. He could hear the sirens getting closer. "What's going to happen to us?" Baby John asked. A-Rab looked over the younger boy's head again, making a quick decision.  
"You get the hell out of here. I'll go throw off the cops." He said strongly, walking around Baby John.  
"No! They'll catch you." Baby John whipped around.  
"Maybe. But better me than you." A-Rab stopped and looked down the empty street.  
"But, A-Rab-"  
"Just scram, Baby John. I'll be ok." A-Rab stood tall and proud, as taught to him by their fearless but now deceased leader. Baby John looked up at his friend, his bottom lip trembling. He lunged forward and threw his arms around the older boy.  
"Don't go." He cried. A-Rab took a step back, nodded to the boy, then took off running down the street. He didn't care if he got caught, but he promised to protect Baby John and that was exactly what he was doing.


	5. Chapter 5: Shoelaces

**AN: This takes place after Act two Scene two and during Scene three. **

****"Johnny Boy! You alright?" A-Rab saw the boy enter Doc's Drug Store. He was the first back from patrolling. A-Rab had been assigned Doc's while Baby John had covered the park. He grabbed Baby John by the shoulders and twisted him this was and that makind sure he didn't have a scratch on him.  
"I'm fine." Baby John shrugged A-Rab off and straightened his jacket.  
"Good." A-Rab sighed.  
"Tony here?" Baby John looked around at the empty store.  
"Yeah, he's down in the cellar with Doc." A-Rab nodded, pointing behind him. Baby John flopped down in a chair.  
"Thanks for watching out for me last night, A-Rab. Did they catch you?" Baby John asked softly.  
"No. I lost them after I threw them off track." A-Rab sat down as well. He looked down at the floor.  
"I fell sick." Baby John mumbled.  
"Yeah?" A-Rab looked over at the boy, raising an eyebrow. He sighed. "Me too. This is one big mess we've got on our hands." He said softly.  
"I'm scared." Baby John openly admitted.  
"Jets don't get scared." A-Rab snapped at him. When he looked over, Baby John had a hurt look on his face. "Sorry. To tell you the truth," A-Rab took a deep breath, "I'm scared too."  
"No, you can't be scared. That makes everything worse. You're supposed to be strong, and brave, and-and like Super Man." Baby John stammered.  
"Alright, alright, calm down." A-Rab put a hand on the boy's back gently.  
"Sorry." Baby John mumbled. "I just- now that Riff is- now that he's-" Baby John couldn't bring himself to say it.  
"I know. It's like we lost one of our brothers." A-Rab's eyelids lowered. He fixed his stare back at the floor. Suddenly he got down on one knee in front of Baby John.  
"What are you doing?" Baby John asked, rubbing one of his eyes tiredly.  
"Your shoe is untied. I'm making sure you don't trip." A-Rab said, tying the shoelace.  
"Is that why you trip all the time?" Baby John asked.  
"Sadly, no." A-Rab said, shaking his head and rising to his feet. That's when Action, Deisel, and Big Deal came running in.  
"Where's Tony?" Action asked, melting the tension that had been in the room.


	6. Chapter 6: Sorry

**AN: This takes place after the Anita rape scene. If you remember, they were going to make Baby John do it. My very good friend, Jantoinette, pointed out something very interesting. She thought that A-Rab was trying to do a very big brotherly thing for Baby John. He grabbed him and was like 'Go get laid!', at least in his head. But remember, A-Rab is kind of dumb and clumsy. **

"I'm going to head home." Deisel grumbled, walking out of Doc's.  
"Yeah, I think I should get home too." Big Deal said softly, following after Deisel.  
"Come on, Anybodys, I'll walk you home." Action said.  
"Not going home. You go on, I'm going to stick around." Anybodys said softly, leaning agaisnt a brick wall. Action nodded and began his walk home. Baby John sat down on the sidewalk and leaned up agaist the wall as far from Anybodys as he could.  
"I'm sorry." A-Rab crouched down beside him.  
"I don't want to talk about it." Baby John hugged his knees to his chest.  
"I-I thought I was helping you to grow up, but I-I, It was so wrong of me. I'm so, so sorry." A-Rab mumbled sadly.  
"I know you are. Can we just get out of here?" Baby John asked. A-Rab nodded and helped him to his feet.  
"I didn't mean to, I mean, I didn't-"  
"Don't talk about it." Baby John said darkly. A-Rab sighed and stopped walking. Baby John stopped and turned to look at him with an emotionless face.  
"I am so, so sorry Baby John." A-Rab said, his voice full of emotion. Baby John looked down at the ground. He sniffled, bit his bottom lip, and looked up at A-Rab.  
"I know. It just, I was scared. It was all fine when we were just pushing her around, but then when-" Baby John took a deep breath, "I wanted to run. Before I got the chance to, you grabbed me. I didn't know what was happening and then Doc yelling and," Baby John trailed off, letting his arms flop to his sides.  
"You don't have to say it. I know." A-Rab said softly. Baby John nodded.  
"Let's head home." He said softly. A-Rab slung his arm around the younger boy's shoulders and that's when the shot rang out and the two took off running to where they were previously in front of Doc's.


	7. Chapter 7: Care

**AN: This takes place after the last scene. In our play the two gangs all carried the body off stage. It's was pretty cool but I figured everyone would kind of all sit around in the same place and not talk about it. Except A-Rab who is kind of smart when it comes to his best friend. :) **

The boys had taken Tony's body away, and now the two gangs were sitting at the playground. No one was saying anything. Action was leaning on one of the poles holding up the swings while Anybodys was on the swing beside him. Diesel was leaning on the basketball hoop pole and Big Deal was sitting beside him leaning against it as well. Chino was sitting on the bottom of the slide, looking at his hands. Indio was kicking at the ground with the tip of his shoe near by. Pepe and Luis were sitting on the jungle gym together, each one looking down at the ground. A-Rab and Baby John were under the play structure. A-Rab took a deep breath and looked at Baby John's face. Only half of it was illuminated by the moonlight, the other half was shrouded in darkness. It had no emotion. A-Rab had expected the boy to be crying or sad at least, but he wasn't anything.  
"Johnny Boy?" A-Rab asked quietly. Baby John didn't move. His eyes didn't even shift what they were focusing on. "Hey, Baby John." A-Rab said a little louder.  
"I don't want to talk." He said softly. He began to run his hand through his hair, but it stayed on the top of his head, supporting it. A-Rab nodded.  
"Can I talk?" A-Rab asked.  
"Fine." Baby John sighed, letting his had fall to the top of his knees.  
"I don't have the best family, and I haven't even been home all day. No one has come looking for me either. You guys are my family. And now it's broken. Were missing a part of us. And I don't want you to not talk about it. I know you, it helps you when you talk about what's on your mind." A-Rab said softly.  
"I don't want to." Baby John mumbled.  
"Why?"  
"Because, I," He sighed, "I'll cry." Baby John sniffled.  
"So? I don't care, just don't let Action Boy see you." A-Rab said quietly. "And even now I don't think he'll pick on you too much."  
"No. Riff always told me to be tough. He told me not to cry, even if I wanted to. And Tony always told me that when someone dies, you shouldn't be sad because it means that all of their problems are gone now and they don't have a care in the world. I don't want to be sad." Baby John said quietly.  
"But you are." A-Rab stated, letting his head lean back onto one of the wooden support posts.  
"Yeah." Baby John nodded.  
"That's ok. I am too." A-Rab nodded as well. He put his hand on Baby John's shoulder. Baby John sniffled again.  
"So it's ok to be sad?" He asked, his voice now full of sadness.  
"Yeah. Yeah it is." A-Rab nodded and sniffed as well. He pat Baby John's back a few times and pulled him in for a tight hug. "I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this bull, Kid." He said sadly. His only response was a few sobs from the boy shaking in his arms. A-Rab let himself do the same and let a few sobs escape his lips.  
After all the two boys had been through lately, they both deserved to let all of their sadness and anger out. First Riff died, then they almost raped Anita, then Tony died as well. That was too much for either of them in one simple weekend.  
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." That was all A-Rab had found he could say. He shook his head sadly and he tried to contain his composure. Baby John sat back up at stared at his friend sadly.  
"Ehem," A-Rab awkwardly cleared his throat, "Ugh, enough of this touchy feely stuff." He said, trying to use his fake tough voice. That voice had always made Baby John laugh and it had done the same at that moment. Baby John laughed and pushed A-Rab's arm. A-Rab laughed as well and shoved the boy over.  
They didn't need to do much for each other, they just needed to care.


End file.
